This as a new White House report indicated that Rubio's home state of Florida is one of the most vulnerable to rising sea levels.

"I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it," the first term senator said Sunday on ABC "This Week," after being asked by ABC News' Jon Karl whether humans were contributing to the heating up of the planet.

"I do not believe that the laws that they propose we pass will do anything about it, except it will destroy our economy," added Rubio, who's seriously considering a bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

"I think severe weather has been a fact of life on earth since man started recording history. I understand that there's a vast consensus of scientists that are saying that human activity is what's contributing to changes in our climate. I think it's an enormous stretch to say that every weather incident that we read about or the majority of them are attributable to human activity," Rubio told CNN's Bill Weir Tuesday on "CNN Tonight."

Rubio's comments come as President Barack Obama's administration last week declared, unequivocally, that climate change is underway across the United States. The U.S. National climate Assessment Report, released last Tuesday, offered a dire assessment of the impact of climate change, and named Miami as the city most vulnerable to damage from rising sea levels. The report was criticized by many Republican lawmakers.

In his CNN interview, Rubio knocked the administration's report and criticized the President's efforts on the issue of climate change. Obama has proposed new programs to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, which most scientists say are the major cause of global warming.

"The President is, he's not a meteorologist. Here's what the President needs to be focused on. He's proposing a certain set of policies that he would have to admit if questioned will do nothing. If in fact these scientists are right and it's greenhouse gas emissions that are changing our climate, none of the things he's proposing would do anything to change that whatsoever, but it would have a devastating impact on our economy.

The most recent national polling on climate chanted indicated that a majority of Americans said humans were causing global warming. According to a Gallup poll conducted in early March, 57% of the public said human activities were behind global warming, with four in ten saying natural changes were causing the earth to heat up.

Fifty-four percent of those questioned in the survey said the effects of global warming were already happening. But less than four in ten said that global warming would pose a threat to their way of life.

The poll indicated a major partisan divide, with a majority of Democrats saying they worried a great deal about global warming, but more than six in ten Republicans saying they worried only a little bit or not at all about climate change.

soundoff(731 Responses)

DYB

It's really unfortunate that the future of humanity a la climate change has become a partisan issue. I wish there was a way to look beyond party lines, at the science behind global warming. And unfortunately, Al Gore has done a disservice to the issue by making it a "Democratic battle", when it's more of a human issue. Rubio is just mouthing the conservative viewpoint they've been boxed into for political reasons. Climate change is real, and we are creating it.

May 12, 2014 11:33 am at 11:33 am |

2_indy1600

@real "even if...."
You got it. But as long as people rely on the "science guy" Bill Nye, who is in fact an engineer with a patent on point toe ballet shoes, the only clown in this car in John Podesta. No cred on CNN. The WH is full of old Clinton people with old ideas. Marco's too young. Clinton's too old. I'll drive instead of walk, thank you.

May 12, 2014 11:34 am at 11:34 am |

realsickofit

What caused the ice age to come and go?

May 12, 2014 11:34 am at 11:34 am |

Lizzie

patNY
This guy is an idiot and its idiots like him that will kill this planet. It is a fact that human activity has increased CO2 levels never before seen in human existence. This guy is a tool for the Koch brothers and that's why he's a denier.
- so are you doing your share to control GLOBAL warming, quitt breathing, eating, not using heating and cooling systems. WHAT????

A true politician , has no clue of reality other then his own ego and bank roll .

Hey Marco , what about pollution , is that not man made ? Or has plastic been floating around for thousands of years .

And if Rubio is wrong , and his is wrong . How will he be held accountable for his closed minded non actions ?

May 12, 2014 11:36 am at 11:36 am |

Scott

Not fit for president.

May 12, 2014 11:36 am at 11:36 am |

jboh

Rubio joins the Koch roaches' whore's pilgrimage. Was he in the pilgrimage to Edelson too?

May 12, 2014 11:36 am at 11:36 am |

s

Sigh why does everyone fight this? I used to disbelieve it myself until I started looking at it objectively most (almost all) people who are educated and knowledgeable about climate agree. I know there are a few whom do not support it but the majority do. We are starting to see more severe droughts, hurricanes, typhoons, rising ocean levels and melting polar ice. Honestly how much more evidence do we need? What has changed about the Earth or the last 100 years....we have changed its not a huge leap to understand our actions are changing the planets weather.
Let's not quibble over minor details and start working on a plan to make things better or at least understand what the changes to our planet may involve.

May 12, 2014 11:37 am at 11:37 am |

Dave Jaipersaud

Oh, so he and the rest of the Republicans believe that it is the aliens from Mars of Pluto that is causing climate change, just like they believe evolution is fiction and the earth was created 6,000 years ago and it is flat and not round. I always knew it was the aliens that was messing with our climate :-). Actually, no it was Obama. Oh my goodness, what was I thinks that it was the aliens.

May 12, 2014 11:37 am at 11:37 am |

Boo

He's another conservative in denial....a believer in an invisible man in the sky but a non-believer of what is visible to his own eyes.

May 12, 2014 11:38 am at 11:38 am |

john pickett

I guess if humans aren't responsible for climate change Sen. Rubio it must be the elves & fairies fault right!?

The 10 least educated states voted for Romney last election, while 9 of the 10 highest educated states voted for President Obama (conservative magazine Forbes study).

Simply put: Intelligent people believe in progressive improvement in America.

May 12, 2014 11:41 am at 11:41 am |

Tuckersdad

Newton's Second Law

May 12, 2014 11:45 am at 11:45 am |

BlackThought

Just another flat-earther

May 12, 2014 11:45 am at 11:45 am |

VegasSmitty

He's not sucking up to the Kool-Aid drinking tree huggers. Might actually have a brain.

May 12, 2014 11:47 am at 11:47 am |

maf

I am assuming the Senator has advanced degrees in climatology and meteorology to substantiate his claims, based on research conducted over a period of years. And that stated his research has passed peer review and published for our review. I’ll also assume the IPCC is totally incorrect in their findings.
I choose to believe the Senator has no idea what he is talking about.

May 12, 2014 11:47 am at 11:47 am |

rob

@Sniffit

"Newsflash: 14.5% of households (containing 16M children) are still reduced to "scrounging for food" in America TODAY.."

Democrats took control the House and Senate in 2007 and the White House in 2009. How can you possibly blame Republican policies for the "14.5% of households (containing 16M children) who are in poverty. There have Been absolutely ZERO major Republican policies or laws passed let alone enacted since at least 2009.

Your statement sums up how the liberal media ignores the results of the policies and laws actually passed by the Democrats which have been a complete failure. There are more people in poverty, fewer people in the workforce, wages are lower, healthcare costs are higher, jobs are going overseas, the "RICH" have gotten richer because of the low interest rates policy of the Federal Reserve ...etc. etc. etc. etc. If a Republican President had an economic record that President Obama has, the terrible stories of the victims of the economic misery would be running endlessly.

May 12, 2014 11:48 am at 11:48 am |

Robert

So if there is an economic disadvantage to the U.S. attempting to control emissions we shouldn't do it. Similarly if other countries beat us economically because they own slaves, then we should be able to own slaves...two wrongs make a right, don't act morally, the south rises again.

May 12, 2014 11:48 am at 11:48 am |

Jolat

Climate alarmists are the true science deniers.

May 12, 2014 11:49 am at 11:49 am |

Doug J

I really dislike when they poll Americans on issues of science. Our lack of knowledge is truly embarrassing. If we want to know why our country isn't doing well economically, then perhaps we need to look at ourselves?

May 12, 2014 11:49 am at 11:49 am |

Mark

If President Obama is so concerned about climate change, he needs to quit flying AirForce One to all parts of the world, and instead try video conferencing.

May 12, 2014 11:50 am at 11:50 am |

Nonpartisan

If humans are behind climate change, we should be cleaning up our emissions. If humans are NOT behind climate change, it doesn't hurt for us to clean up our emissions. Either way, we should clean up our emissions. The only difference in the two would, perhaps, be the speed and urgency with which we do it. But we should do it.

May 12, 2014 11:51 am at 11:51 am |

cal usa

President Obama is not a metereologist, but Rubio is?

May 12, 2014 11:51 am at 11:51 am |

smellferd

The carbon we are releasing was originally trapped by plants in order to create fossil fuels and is being trapped by plants now. The plants had to be alive to trap the co2 to begin with. Bottom line.. the earth is a closed system. Global warming is a hoax.

I've been hearing a lot about China, per this discussion & while it's true there are still nations that have poor or no regulations, so what? Is that who we're aspiring to be? Some of my friends are terrible housekeepers, but I still clean my apt! I've seen the pics of Bejing or Mumbai, but I've seen Houston & L.A upclose & personal & it's still pretty bad! We do need to clean up our act, worry about our environment first! Those lagging behind will catch up eventually, but we can't use them as an excuse for not doing anything!!